| Comment Number: | OL-10507480 |
| Received: | 3/14/2005 11:30:03 AM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
1. Under NSPS, the DoD can conduct a RIF solely within a particular branch, division, department, line of business, product line, funding line, or other category. This is not allowed under current Demo Project RIF rules, which require RIFs to be conducted within the competitive area defined by geographic location and organizational unit. NUWCDIVNPT would be the competitive area if a RIF were conducted today, which means that RIFs could not be based solely on a branch, division, product, or funding line basis, as allowed under NSPS rules. Under NSPS, a RIF could be limited to a particular branch, with employees in the targeted branch selected for layoff, and no other branches affected. A RIF could also be limited to a particular product or funding line (i.e. Torpedo Program X, Combat System Y, etc.). Employees working on this project could be laid off, and nobody else would be affected. This is obviously unfair for many reasons, including the fact that employees have very little control over the branch or project they work on, and could be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Management could shift certain employees to a particular branch or project, knowing that a RIF is coming. Employees would also be very reluctant to work for organizations and programs that have (or may potentially have) funding problems, which would make it difficult for managers in those organizations and programs to get enough employees to do the work. 2. These rules contradict the DoD’s claimed “performance-based HR system”. Non-performance factors, such as organizational unit, product and funding lines, and other considerations will affect RIFs more directly than employee performance ratings. For example, an Outstanding employee could be laid off before a Satisfactory employee, based solely on the branch or project that the employees work on. This contradicts the purpose and intent of NSPS, as claimed by the DoD. 3. These new rules also significantly limit veterans’ preference in a RIF, despite DoD’s claim otherwise. A veteran with 20 years of military service could be caught in a RIF that is limited to his/her branch or project, whereas a 3rd year non-veteran employee in the same occupation may not be affected. This cannot happen under current RIF rules, which makes DoD’s claims very disingenuous.